


The Press Conference

by tptplayer5701



Series: "Mind Games"-verse [12]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bee Chloé Bourgeois | Queen Bee, Butterfly Sabrina Raincomprix, Established Relationship, Fox Alya Césaire | Rena Rouge, Good Parents Sabine Cheng & Tom Dupain, Miraculous Holder Ivan Bruel, Miraculous Holder Juleka Couffaine, Miraculous Holder Mylène Haprèle, Miraculous Holder Nathaniel Kurtzberg, Miraculous Holder Rose Lavillant, Miraculous Holder Sabrina Raincomprix, New Miraculous Holders, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post-Hawk Moth Defeat, Post-Reveal Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Turtle Nino Lahiffe | Carapace
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-30
Updated: 2020-05-31
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:27:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,553
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24458197
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tptplayer5701/pseuds/tptplayer5701
Summary: A "Mind Games"-verse "Spring Break" storyIt has been months since Ladybug and Cat Noir defeated Hawk Moth. In that time, Adrien has taken over his father's company, the Heroes of Paris have protected the city from the Headquarters in Hawk Moth's old lair, and Marinette and Adrien's relationship has grown and matured through its most difficult tests.And last month, Adrien was almost arrested for embezzlement, thanks to the manipulation of a shadowy figure called the "Lynchpin" who has taken over the Paris underworld in Hawk Moth's absence.Now, on the first day of "Spring Break," Agreste Fashion House has to do damage control on that almost-arrest, and the Heroes of Paris are looking for clues to their adversary's plans.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Chloé Bourgeois, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Alya Césaire & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Alya Césaire & Max Kanté, Alya Césaire & Sabrina Raincomprix, Ivan Bruel/Mylène Haprèle, Luka Couffaine & Kagami Tsurugi, Nora Césaire & Principal Damocles
Series: "Mind Games"-verse [12]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1666807
Comments: 9
Kudos: 54





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> If you are coming to the "Mind Games"-verse new, this would be a good jumping-on point. The first chapter recaps everything up to now; the second chapter gives a bit of a preview for the next several stories.

“I’d like to thank you all for being here today,” Adrien began, eyes sweeping the crowd of reporters assembled in the lobby of the Agreste Fashion House building. There were fewer reporters today than there had been on the day he announced his decision to keep Agreste Fashion in business, three days after the founder’s arrest for domestic terrorism. _If this had happened back then, on top of Father’s arrest…_ Adrien put on his most convincing model-smile as the cameras flashed, careful to project an attitude of confidence. He found the TVi news cameraman standing next to Nadja Chamack and held his focus on the camera momentarily. He scanned the room quickly, only pausing the sweep when Chloe, standing near the front doors with Juleka and a small group of models, gave him a thumbs-up.

He glanced down at his notes. “I’m sure I don’t need to rehash the _reasons_ behind calling this press conference,” he continued with a self-deprecating grin. “Once the rumor of a police investigation got out, I suppose there was no way to call it back – even if the rumor began _after_ the police had a new suspect in custody!” He paused while a couple of the reporters laughed nervously. “The only thing that will stop the rumors is the truth. So allow me to set the record straight:

“It is true that the police questioned me a month ago regarding some suspicious financial transactions. It is true that Agreste’s financial records were tampered with. It is categorically _false_ that I was responsible for any of these activities. In fact, thanks to the diligent work of both the Paris Police Prefecture and the Heroes of Paris, I was cleared of all charges and the police had arrested the true culprit in less than 36 hours.”

He paused to allow the murmuring around the room to die down.

“Unfortunately,” he announced when he had their attention again, “the culprit was a former Agreste employee I had been forced to fire the day before. I cannot comment on his arrest because the trial is ongoing. However, I am confident that justice will prevail in this case.

“On the subject of ongoing legal action, I can also confirm that Agreste Fashion House did indeed file suit against Jaucourt Couture for copyright infringement two weeks ago. That lawsuit has been settled out of court, and I wish to thank Francois Jaucourt for agreeing to our settlement terms. The information Jaucourt provided regarding how they received the dress design in question has proven significant in that other ongoing trial.”

Adrien took a breath to steel his nerves before continuing with his next announcement. He glanced over at the wall to see Marinette standing next to Mme Legrand and smiling at him encouragingly, and took strength from that.

“This legal action with Jaucourt has had one silver lining, however,” he stated with a small smile. “As you know, I placed Agreste Fashion House’s flagship ‘Gabriel’ brand on an indefinite hiatus after my… _father_ ’s misdeeds came to light following his arrest last summer. And looking around the room today I can safely say that _no one_ wants to wear his name any more!” He paused while a laugh rolled through the crowd. “In the months since then we have doubled down on our other brands, including the ‘Emilie’ line of women’s clothing. We also, in conjunction with the Heroes of Paris, created a line of Hero-inspired clothing, the profits from which have gone to help provide counseling for Hawk Moth’s numerous victims, only a small way for the former villain’s company to start repaying some of the suffering that man caused to all of us.

“Today, however, I am excited to announce the launch of Agreste Fashion’s new flagship brand, named ‘Marinette’ after its very talented lead designer.” He hesitated for a moment and smiled. “Actually, that’s not quite right. You see, the ‘Marinette’ brand has been on the market under other Agreste labels since September. In fact, I see a few of you are wearing Marinette’s designs right now! If you look closely, you can see the ‘Marinette’ signature stitched into the pieces.” To demonstrate, he pointed to the signature on one cuff of the jacket he was wearing.

He nodded to Marinette, who nervously pushed herself away from the wall. “And now I’m thrilled to introduce the designer herself, Marinette Dupain-Cheng! Marinette joined Agreste Fashion as a lycée intern with our design team last summer and has done nothing but turn heads and impress at this company. We had intended to make this announcement next year, but the stolen dress design was one of Marinette’s, and her signature was _the_ deciding evidence in convincing Jaucourt that the dress was one of hers and had been stolen.”

Marinette crossed to the podium and stood next to Adrien, smiling shyly as the cameras flashed. Near the front of the store, Adrien almost missed the moment when Chloe nudged Juleka and disappeared out the front door. None of the reporters saw it, however; they were too focused on Marinette. Adrien surreptitiously took her hand and interlaced their fingers. She squeezed his hand reassuringly, and the smile gained a little of her Ladybug confidence.

Adrien continued, “Marinette has had a profound impact on this company since joining. In fact, if you look around this lobby you can already see some of Marinette’s influence at work, as she was responsible for completely redecorating the store’s entryway this month.” He waited a beat before concluding, “Thank you for your time. I can answer a couple of questions before we end.”

As the reporters started raising their hands, Adrien pointed to a man holding a digital recorder.

“In announcing Mlle Dupain-Cheng as the designer for your new brand, are you promoting her to be Agreste’s Lead Designer?” the reporter asked.

“Not at this time.” Adrien shook his head. Glancing at the wall where Marinette had been standing, Mme Legrand nodded to him and gestured for him to keep going. He explained, “Marinette is still in the process of learning the inner workings of the fashion industry, under the tutelage of Mme Jeanne Legrand. Mme Legrand is still our Lead Designer and Marinette’s mentor, and we have no plans for that to change any time soon.”

Almost before Adrien had finished speaking, another reporter waved at him and cut in. “Just to clarify,” he began, “you are entrusting Agreste’s flagship brand to a lycée student?”

Adrien nodded emphatically. “Absolutely,” he confirmed. “Our sales have returned to nearly their pre-Hawk Moth levels, and ‘Marinette’ clothing has consistently outsold all our other products. The designer herself had a strong reputation _before_ joining me at Agreste, having designed for Jagged Stone and Clara Nightingale, among many others. I was fortunate to bring her in when my father… left. I am very happy to have been able to replace my father’s creative vision with that of a designer with even greater talent and potential – one who is _not_ moonlighting as a sadistic super-villain!”

Adrien pointed to another reporter, who asked, “Speaking of your father, do you have any plans to continue the ‘Gabriel’ brand at this time?”

Adrien shook his head adamantly, allowing his face to show some of the anger he still felt towards his father. “No. If and when my father is released from prison he may choose to continue his brand. But I will absolutely not produce anything with his name on it. He lost that chance when he started turning my friends into anime villains! I believe we have time for one more question.” He looked around the room before finding a familiar face. “Mme Chamack! And how is Manon?”

Nadja smiled. “Manon is as bubbly and high-energy as ever, thank you! Although she misses her favorite babysitter.”

Adrien chuckled. “I apologize for that. But I suppose you can understand now why I’ve been monopolizing her time so much this year! What is your question?”

Nadja looked at Adrien and Marinette appraisingly for a moment before speaking. “Before your father’s arrest, you were considered Paris’ teen heartthrob.” Adrien blushed slightly but nodded at the characterization. “Over the last month there have been rumors flying around about you and your new designer. So could you set the record straight? Are you and Marinette dating?”

Adrien smiled for a moment and squeezed Marinette’s hand. He pretended to think about his answer, and said, “I suppose I can give you an answer. To answer your question, _no_ , we are not ‘dating.’” He paused for a beat. “‘Dating’ implies something less permanent, less committed. Marinette is far more important to me than merely my ‘date’ for company events and concerts. Marinette is my best friend, my strongest supporter this past year, my girlfriend. She is without question the most important person in my life today.” He raised his and Marinette’s interlocked hands to his lips and kissed her knuckle to emphasize the point.

“Thank you all for being here and for your questions. If you wish to browse our store, you will find a new display with the ‘Marinette’ brand merchandise right next to the ‘Heroes of Paris’ display to the right of the entrance. Thank you all very much.”

* * *

Five minutes later, Adrien led Marinette through the store to the back room where Alya, Max, and Sabrina were waiting for them. On the way, Marinette turned to him, blushing, and asked, “Did you really mean what you said about me?”

“Every word of it, Princess,” he assured her, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. “You are the most important person in the world to me.”

She leaned her head on his shoulder and smiled. The door in front of them opened, and Alya slipped out. Marinette abruptly straightened up and turned serious. “Anything exciting to report?” she asked Alya.

“A few things happened, but nothing big,” Alya replied, frowning. “We have a few leads to follow up on, but that’s it. Sorry we didn’t get anything more out of this.”

“It was a long shot,” Adrien reassured her with a shrug. “Maybe this is a good thing. Maybe we _aren’t_ the target after all.”

“Maybe,” Alya agreed, though she didn’t sound convinced. She brightened. “But I’ll figure it out, don’t worry!”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This takes place simultaneous with Chapter 1 and explains everything that was happening behind-the-scenes.
> 
> Non-canon Miraculous holders:  
> Impératrice Pourpre – Sabrina (Butterfly Miraculous)  
> Taureau Dechaine – Ivan (Ox Miraculous)  
> Multiplice – Mylène (Mouse Miraculous)  
> Bengalia – Juleka (Tiger Miraculous)  
> Miss Pinky – Rose (Pig Miraculous)  
> Geber – Nathaniel (Rooster Miraculous)

“I should be out there,” Alya complained for the fifteenth time, hunching over the monitors she was watching. The stock room Adrien had set aside for their command post was crammed with computers and monitors, to say nothing of the three heroes. “I feel so removed from the action back here. And at least then the two of you would have a little more room.”

“We have already discussed this, Alya,” Max reminded her patiently. “You would draw too much attention.”

“I’m a reporter,” Alya defended, glaring at him. “News blogs are just as legitimate as the big boys.”

“I agree,” he assured her, “but you run the Ladyblog, not a fashion blog. Your focus is on the Heroes of Paris, not the fashion industry. Unless Adrien is announcing that Agreste designed Anansi’s new costume, you would draw undue attention.”

“It’s not like Agreste _didn’t_ design her new suit,” Alya muttered.

“I doubt Marinette wishes to _publicize_ that fact!”

“You realize your bickering doesn’t make this any easier, right?” Impératrice Pourpre interrupted their argument, keeping her eyes closed. “I can’t focus with all the excess noise.”

“Apologies, Sabrina,” Max whispered. “It will not happen again.”

Alya tapped a button on her phone. “Check in, people.”

“This is Viperion,” came the first response. “Everything is quiet along the Seine.”

King Monkey responded next. “Cat really isn’t taking any chances today, is he?”

Alya smiled when Carapace answered. “Well, if Rena’s hunch is right, this press conference could get really interesting…”

Taureau Dechaine’s deep voice was the next she heard. “I don’t know about the rest of you, but I really hope it stays quiet.”

“How did I get paired up with the Professor for this?” Anansi demanded. “And why are we just sitting on top of a collège?”

“Well, the two of you work so well together, A,” Alya replied, grinning. Beside her, Max was stifling a smile of his own.

“It was one time!” Anansi retorted, irritation bleeding through her voice.

“And that one time _could_ have blown this whole thing wide open months ago,” Alya reminded her. “We had all the pieces.”

“ _You_ had all the pieces,” Ryoku corrected. “ _You_ did. And you neglected to share with the rest of us. And our friends suffered because _you_ didn’t want to share! I–” She broke off abruptly.

“Easy there, Ryoku,” Carapace said after a moment of silence. “How do you keep a secret? By telling nobody. That’s what kept us safe before we defeated Hawk Moth: if any of us were Akumatized – and all of us were at least once, remember – we didn’t know who Ladybug was so we couldn’t target her directly. Anansi and Rena were keeping this investigation as close to the vest as possible so Lynchpin wouldn’t realize they were on to him.”

“I’m with the Dragon,” King Monkey interjected. “I get not tipping their hand, but shouldn’t the rest of us have known _something_ was going on? Look what happened to Cat Noir!”

“Don’t remind me!” Alya retorted. “I’m _still_ apologizing to Ladybug about that!”

“As upset as I know we all are,” Taureau Dechaine responded, “I think we can all agree that Ladybug and Cat Noir don’t need us at each other’s throats right now. They need us on task.”

“Heads up, guys,” Alya announced, watching the monitor closely. “Queen Bee just gave the signal for Adrien to start the press conference. Call out anything unusual.”

The hidden cameras Max had installed panned through the crowd as Adrien described the police investigation. Alya watched for reaction, even as she half-followed the speech she had helped Adrien prepare. When he thanked the police and the Heroes, she snorted. Max glanced up at her, a question in his eyes. “It’s not like the _police_ did anything,” she explained, raising an eyebrow at him. “I _literally_ dropped all the evidence they needed – and a promotion – at Captain Raincomprix’s feet! No offense, IP,” she added quickly.

Impèratrice Pourpre simply smiled, her eyes still closed. “Daddy was just grateful he wouldn’t have to actually _arrest_ Adrien! He was quite impressed by how quickly you sorted it out,” she told her. “Though he was still a little curious about what kind of investigation could have gotten you on that particular trail… I think I managed to satisfy his curiosity.”

“I think I have something here,” Max announced. He tapped a button and zoomed in on a face in the crowd. “This reporter’s face showed a negative reaction to ‘cleared of all charges.’” He typed a few commands. “No criminal record, no red flags… 75% of his recent articles have been character defamations against Adrien, however, so it is likely a false alarm. I will still log it for later.”

“I…” Ryoku began hesitantly. “I think we have something unusual by the Seine. Viperion and I are going to investigate.”

“Let us know if you find anything,” Alya instructed them. Satisfied, she returned to her monitors. A couple of the reporters were leaning forward with interest as Adrien continued to speak. She saw some looks of surprise – one reporter had a look on her face that Alya was only too familiar with: the “scoop of the century” look. But nothing stood out to her.

“IP, any reactions jump out when Adrien announced the culprit was an Agreste employee?” Alya asked.

“No… nothing major. I sense despair coming _from_ the culprit, but no one seems unusually elated or relieved by it,” she answered, eyes still closed and brow furrowed in concentration. “If I had Hawk Moth’s experience I could probably pick up more nuances than I can right now – that or if I merged the Butterfly with the Peacock.”

“Pity it’s still broken,” Alya commented absently. She narrowed her eyes while watching the crowd outside the press assembly. “Did you run facial recognition on everyone here? Customers, too?” she asked Max.

“I did not,” Max replied, frowning. “We could not control that particular variable. Markov has been monitoring everyone in the building for reactions, however.”

Alya hummed. “That would be a good place for Lynchpin to put someone… if he’s going to be here at all.”

“I’m not sensing anything unusual from the store,” Impèratrice Pourpre assured her. “A couple women are arguing about a purse. I sense shame from a man buying a lingerie set… ah. Um… nothing relevant there…”

Chloe’s voice came over the communicator. “Should I send Bengalia to take a walk-through of the store?”

Alya thought for a moment. “No,” she finally decided. “We need both of you out front. Just keep an eye on anyone leaving the store.”

“Something… weird is happening at the zoo,” King Monkey said, sounding out of breath. “I think Geber and I can handle it.”

“Let us know if you need backup,” Alya told him.

Adrien had continued the press conference while all this was happening. Alya saw several eyebrows raised while he discussed the lawsuit against Jaucourt Couture, though none that raised concerns. She smacked the table in frustration. “Ugh! I was really hoping we’d get _something_ out of this.”

“Perhaps the show of force frightened off any potential leads?” Max supplied.

“Hey, guys?” Anansi began. “Something weird just happened…”

Alya raised her eyes at Max. _Speak of trouble and it shall come…_ “What is it?”

“Someone down the street just threw their window open and started throwing clothes into the middle of the street.” Anansi hesitated. “And now they set the pile on fire. And they’re dancing around it.” Her voice raised in pitch, and Alya reflexively lowered the system’s volume. “Birdy, _why are people in your neighborhood so crazy?????_ ”

“I have been asking the same question for years, Anansi,” the Owl responded, chuckling. “You should see some of the disciplinary reports I’ve received! Although the number of reports went _down_ this school year…”

Alya stifled a giggle and glanced over at Max. “Kim,” she mouthed, and he nodded, rolling his eyes. Aloud she said, “Can we stay on task? I take it that’s _not_ Lynchpin setting a bunch of clothing on fire?”

“Your sister has some unusual adventures,” Max observed.

Alya hummed in acknowledgement. Adrien had continued on to announce Marinette’s new clothing brand. Several reporters’ faces expressed surprise that Agreste’s new brand would be designed by a lycée student, but none stood out to her as particularly memorable.

Impèratrice Pourpre shivered. “Oooh,” she murmured, “whatever Adrien just said, I felt a _massive_ emotional spike.”

“What is it?” Alya asked, taking her eyes off the monitors to focus on the other girl. Impèratrice Pourpre’s eyebrows were still scrunched up in concentration, beads of sweat forming on her forehead. She was forcing herself to breath slowly and deeply, rubbing her thumbs in tiny circles in her palms. Hesitantly Alya added, “Sabrina?”

“It–it’s so overwhelming I can’t sense anything else,” she finally answered. “But it’s most definitely _not_ what we were looking for.” She opened her eyes and smiled ruefully. “I think it’s safe to say that Mar’s parents are happy for her!”

Alya shook her head and rolled her eyes, returning to her monitors as she did so. “Maybe we should have warned them what was happening today,” she muttered. Her eye was drawn to the feed tracking the Agreste parking lot. A couple of shoppers had just started fighting over a shopping bag. Soon more bystanders were drawn into the fight. Alya zoomed in to capture photos of the faces involved. “Queen Bee? Something’s happening in the parking lot. Would you check it out?”

“And this was just getting interesting,” Chloe complained. “Ugh. Fine.”

Alya watched Chloe nudge Juleka and slip out the front door. Once outside, Chloe disappeared in a flash of yellow light before Queen Bee launched herself in the direction of the parking lot. The altercation had by that point started to move out of the Agreste parking lot into that of a nearby shopping center. Queen Bee landed just outside the group a moment before they moved beyond the range of Agreste’s security cameras.

“Bee, what’s happening there?” Alya asked.

A moment later Queen Bee answered, “Ugh. Ridiculous! They’re just idiots, not terrorists. Give me a few minutes to sort this thing out.”

By now Adrien had answered several questions. “All right, this could be the big one,” Alya told the others as Adrien pointed to Nadja Chamack. She tuned out everything else to focus on the faces in the crowd during Adrien’s answer. She didn’t need to listen to the answer Adrien gave; she had helped him _write_ it for just this reason!

“Oh!” Impèratrice Pourpre shouted, eyes shooting open. “That was the clearest reaction yet! A surge of malicious joy, followed immediately by utter hatred.”

“Where did it come from?” Alya asked quickly, not taking her eyes off the face of a woman who had dropped her shopping bag when Adrien said, “no.”

“Sixteenth Arrondissement,” Impèratrice Pourpre reported quickly. “Near the Italian Consulate… it’s Lila.”

Alya shook her head. “Well,” she admitted, laughing, “I suppose it would have been unusual if she _hadn’t_ reacted to that!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A note on secret identities in this universe:
> 
> As I’ve written this series, I’ve realized that the “who knows whose identity” has gotten rather complex. Here’s the quick rundown. The original five (Marinette, Adrien, Alya, Nino, and Chloe), as well as Max and Sabrina, know everyone’s identities. Max knows because he hooked everyone into the communication system. Sabrina knows so she can avoid using Akumas on the Heroes when they aren’t transformed (generally they don’t want to attract attention as civilians; Chloe is the exception). All but the newest Heroes know Marinette and Adrien’s identities. Chloe’s identity is public knowledge. Of the other Heroes, some know each other’s identities (Ivan/Taureau Dechaine can’t actually keep any secrets from Mylène/Multiplice!), and some don’t.


End file.
